


Inconsequential.

by UnrealRomance



Series: Connected Dimensions [5]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Nik is just Nik, Templar Herald, Trevelyan Herald
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 03:06:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9157420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnrealRomance/pseuds/UnrealRomance
Summary: I don't have too many AU's for Rewritten, shut up!...YOU have too many AU's...*grumble*Anywho. This is an AU in which Nik is just a regular person to appear and doesn't become the Herald cause one's already existing by the time she pops up. A male Trevelyan who also happens to be a Templar.This version of Nik is still Nik, but she's...edgier. I took a different tack with her this time. If you've read Secret's Out, you know that Nik is basically the same as Rewritten Nik. If you've read Blank Slate-- you know that Nik is slightly different and more snarky.This Nik is snarky, sarcastic, edgy and a little bit dangerous. She's still Nik, so she's a soft marshmallow on the inside but no one else knows that at first, shhh...





	1. Chapter 1

I had to tell them how to make water from snow. How to make a burn pit that wouldn't set the cabins on fire- I'm not even fucking kidding, these mages are like newborn infants. And on the one hand, I understand.

They were locked up their whole lives, taken care of but not free- and them not knowing how to survive outside the Circles may have been a contrivance of the Templars. To discourage escape or multiple escapes- didn't much discourage Anders, but then, what could?

But on the other, there's a point when common sense and logic should come into play.

" _No,_ you can't feed that to a baby!"

"Oh for god's sake, give me the fucking meat and salt and _scram_."

"Magic is not always the answer to everything...you burned yourself _where_!?"

Yeah. Taking those first-aid classes came in handy a _lot_. Especially when people started coming to me more and more often because it was obvious I knew more than they did about that kinda shit.

I collapse in the bed of my brand new cabin. Leliana said I could use the space for making my poultices and crap if I also consented to house some of the wounded if it became necessary. Like I'm going to argue. She expressed surprise that I found it, out in the middle of a copse of trees.

My first day here was spent explaining away my lack of clothing and trying to correct the deplorable conditions of the healer's tents and cabins.

I popped up in the snow, completely naked. I can't even remember how I got here. No magical bursts of light or anything- just darkness, then my consciousness pulling me down until I landed on my feet. Then my knees.

Then my feet again when I felt the snow under me and became aware that I was naked.

The Herald of Andraste is still recovering from closing his first rift. He's a Templar who was at the Conclave to attend the peace talks, and from what I hear he's really ascribed to the whole Chantry rote.

Magic is meant to serve man. Mages are dangerous. All of it. But Cassandra is a bit taken in by it, so he must be innocuous about it. Must seem honorable or level-headed or something, so it's likely he's not a _raging_ asshole like some Templars can be.

He's a Trevelyan, even.

"Come over here." A quiet demand from the desk near my alchemy station has my head popping up.

I blink rapidly at the elf staring at me. "Huh?"

"I need to check something I suspect and I would rather not loom over you while you lie in bed." He replies, matter-of-fact.

"How the hell- why are you even in here?" I push myself off the bed, all the same. I'm tired, but if Solas wants something from me, he isn't just going to drop it. I know that from interacting with him as much as the game. Solas goes after shit.

"You invited me to use your alchemy facilities, do you recall?" Amusement. I've amused him by being cranky. Which probably means I have that pouty look on my face I get when I'm exhausted and people try to talk to me.

Right. I'd told him I had a bunch of Elfroot and other ingredients that I'd bought myself to practice making potions with and that he was welcome to help out if the potions went to the healers. He didn't seem all that interested in what I was saying at the time, but whatever.

"Ughhh…." I groan and pad over to the elf with my hands rubbing at my eyes. "What?"

"Hold still." He says and then suddenly-

"Shit!" I leap backward and put my hands up as if to ward him off. Because it felt like he just grabbed my organs. "The fuck!?"

"Calm down." He admonishes. "I am only examining you for damage." There's a pinch to his brow. "If you'd rather I heal you without magic, it will be more diffi-"

"That was healing!?" I shriek and sort of crouch on the ground with my arms wrapped around my knees. I'm watching him with narrowed eyes and shaking a little. "It felt like you were groping my insides!"

A long, slow blink. "You could feel the magic?"

"Yeah." I drawl, a little snippily. "What the hell did you think I was reacting to?"

"I assumed the glow." He stands up and walks toward me, stopping when I shove myself to my feet and scramble backwards. "I am not going to hurt you." He says, watching me with his lips pressed together tight.

"You tried to _help_ me and it ended up feeling like you were reaching inside and fingering my organs!" I snap. "Don't fuckin' do it again!"

He inhales for a long moment, like he's trying to remind himself not to yell at me, which is _bullshit_. "I was not aware you held a particular sensitivity to magic, as you are not a mage." His eyes narrow. "It is possible to do it differently, but I was not aware that it was _necessary_ to do so."

I glare at him a little, I'm not ashamed to say. "I asked you to stop, and I'm freaking out. Don't you think maybe it'd be kinder to back the fuck off and let me calm down? Oh, but I'm just some _Shemlen_ bitch, what's my comfort matter to _you_?"

It's a low blow, but it has its intended effect. Well, more than that.

Solas's ears flick back, his expression twists and he steps back a few times. "I…my apologies." And then he leaves the cabin altogether, footsteps silent.

I know humans are on top and everything in this world, but seriously- a man taller and stronger than me with magic? Human or elven, that's going to be a dangerous situation. He should've thought of that. Even if I know the game version of Solas has integrity and would never hurt me unless it was absolutely necessary- I don't know that about this one.

For all I know, _this_ Solas would experiment on me if I was curious enough an enigma to him. Reaching out to him in the first place was probably a mistake. I just wanted to help. We have a shortage of supplies and I was trying to get some of the mages to help me make stronger potions- there are ways to steep the elfroots for longer, I know there is!

Breathing slowly and pressing a hand over my chest where my heart is- I stumble back into bed and curl up under the covers. Hopefully when I wake up, I'll be less worried about his inevitable response to this.

Because I know there will be one, even if it's just that he decides to completely ignore me.


	2. Chapter 2

It doesn't take very long to make friends, though making friends with mages over anyone else seems to have made me some kind of pariah to most non-mages…

Well, who gives a fuck about them?

"Lady Nik, someone's injured but the healers say they don't need to waste energy on him." Dahlia is one of my closer friend/colleagues and she tends to defer to me over the guy who's _supposed_ to be in charge of the mages in Haven.

And so does everyone else, which pisses him off to no _end_ \- I love it.

"He needs either stitches or a poultice, but they say we can't waste the poultice and the surgeons are all busy." Dahlia wrinkles her nose at that. "I think they just don't like him."

There are different factions to the mages in Haven. Healers, Healer-adjacent but actually elementals and elementals and other mages who can make potions and poultices but are shit at healing. Well, that's just how _I_ divide them up in my head.

"Yeah, okay." I sigh and shake my head. "Petty dumbasses…it's not a Templar right? Cause I could understand that."

In reality there are healers, ice mages, fire mages and storm mages. There's very few of any other schools and all of them prefer to leave their preferences unsaid- there are only a few options considered acceptable after all. The nature mages help the elfroot to grow and then harvest it from the mountain- I dunno about anyone else.

I'm still getting everyone to open up to me, though they defer to me easily enough on matters like this.

"He's a mage, actually. Can't recall his name. Rather…snooty fellow." She leads me away from the bucket of hot water just outside the healing tents that I've been washing my hands in- toward the other side of Haven…

"Oh, my god." I mutter and rush past her when I see who she's taking me to. "What the hell happened to you!?"

Solas is sitting at Varric's usual fire with a make-shift bandage pressed to his head, but it's covered in blood. And he looks paler than usual which shouldn't be _possible_!

He flinches at the volume of my voice, "I am unable to access my magic to heal my wounds. I only require a potion or poultice. It seems the mages are reluctant to share them." His brow ticks. "Though I've made more than my share. I shall be sure to keep some for myself from now on, I suppose."

There's another wound on his waist where his hand is clenching around another bandage. It looks like he got swiped at by someone with…

… _unable to access my magic…_

"Dhalia, do what you can and get one of my personal stock from the healing cabin to give him." I tell her, turning slowly toward the gates of Haven. "I'll be right back and take over for you. Remember what I've taught you about stopping the bleeding."

Dahlia nods and settles on the log next to Solas, hands coming up and glowing over the wound on his head first. I wait until I see some relief in his face before walking away, assured she's at least doing enough to help him till I get this matter settled.

It takes a while to hunt the bastard down outside the gates- not as long as it would have if he weren't still bragging to all his buddies about the 'knife-eared mage with a big mouth' he'd apparently 'taught a lesson' to.

I make note of his face and march my ass right over to the sparring field until I'm standing right behind Cullen. "Commander!" I snap a little, using some of that natural command I've always had. Being an older sister tends to come with an extra talent for bossiness.

He turns on his heel with a surprised expression and blinks at me. "I- oh. Lady Nik?" He takes in my extremely-pissed expression and his brow furrows. "What's happened?"

"You and Cassandra gave me the mages, do you recall?" I ask with a bit of chill to my voice. "I'm in charge of them, including their punishments, their health and anything else that concerns them."

"I…yes?" He's suspicious and worried, and I'm sorry to put so much strain on him- he ends up being a good guy even if he's kind of a jackass about mages, still. At least he doesn't say they're not people anymore.

"Why is Solas injured, then?" I ask, stony and still. "One of your Templars _attacked_ him, apparently to discipline him for being 'mouthy'…why wasn't I consulted about this?"

The expression on his face is as horrified as I'd hoped. "I didn't approve- I-" His own rage breaks the surface of his confusion. "Do you know who?"

"He's bragging about it to all his friends, so yes." I turn around and gesture at him to follow me over my shoulder. "Funny how he thinks it's _just fine_ to attack the man keeping the only hope for Thedas _alive_ , isn't it? You must not be cracking down hard enough when they antagonize the mages."

"I assure you," he walks abreast of me with a stormy expression. "If I catch any of my men harassing a mage-"

"Catching them isn't enough." I halt right before the little spot where the Templar and his friends are hanging out and pushing each other around playfully like a bunch of kids. "You need to make them _afraid_ of hurting their own allies. The mages are powerless against Templars, you know that much." I pin him in place with my eyes as well as I can. "Anything a mage has ever done that was violent, it was because they felt threatened or caged. I will not have my mages afraid to work their magic in Haven."

"You would just take them and go, wouldn't you?" He sounds so tired. "I know you've been teaching them to hunt. With magic."

"If I thought I needed to, to protect them?" I cross my arms, "damn straight, I would."

I turn to leave after pointing out the Templar in question and pause to say one last thing.

"And Cullen?" I wait until his eyes find mine. "I want you to stress to those Templars, no matter how mouthy he's being- the next time one of them puts a _finger_ on that _particular_ mage…" I allow my eyes to go dead and dark and pantomime a knife across my throat. "I have friends in the Scouts."

At his wide-eyed look, I turn again and take off back for Haven. Solas is probably fine, but I should make sure Dahlia sealed the skin right- and I need to get someone to make him something for what I'm now sure was a smite or a silencing.

Fucking Templar _bitches._


	3. Chapter 3

"I want the mages  _quarantined_!" Trevelyan woke up this morning, just a couple hours ago- and he's already giving me a headache.

But I've done a pretty good job hamstringing him, I think.

"You have no authority here,  _Trevelyan_." Leliana replies with a cold stare. "The Inquisition is an arm of the Chantry, disavowed or not. Your duty is to help us, and if you refuse- we are within our rights to declare you an apostate of the Templar order and have you hunted down and dragged back kicking and screaming."

Yeah apparently Templars can be Apostates too, but no one really knows that. Leliana is sympathetic to mages in this universe, thank god- she's just suggestible enough to take ideas and run with them, too. Not easily manipulated, but when spoken to honestly with the right words- her mind can be led to the right conclusions.

"I am the  _Herald of Andraste_." Yeah, he heard the people talking about that. "Do you really think the people won't see you treating me this way and-" His face is flushing. He's a tanned man, with dark brown hair- unremarkable but okay looking. Just a face in the crowd- or he would be if that mark wasn't sparking on his left hand.

"The people call you the  _Herald_ , not the  _Chosen_." I cut in to end his little tantrum before it can begin. "They have been encouraged to believe that you are a Harbinger of doom." That was  _my_  idea, of course. "You Herald the end of Thedas, if we don't heal the Breach."

I heard more about him after leaving Cullen yesterday. Apparently Cassandra does  _not_  in fact like him, not after they left the Chantry anyway.

He didn't want to go to the rift, didn't want to follow Cassandra and she beat him up when he refused to drop his weapons. Which okay, she might've overreacted but really I don't blame her after meeting him myself.

He's flushing so hard his whole face and his ears are turning red. "I can just tell them you're lying!"

I smirk a bit and I can see Leliana mirroring me off to the side in my peripheral vision. "After seeing you trying to flee and struggling against Seeker Cassandra- the people won't believe a word you say."

If he'd been the least bit redeemable, I wouldn't have started this. I wouldn't have  _needed_  to. But after hearing from Solas and Varric  _both_ \- when I sought them out to confirm what I'd heard- I knew it was a mistake to give him a single iota of power over anything.

I'm just lucky Leliana agrees with me.

"You will be given your own armor and weapons." Cassandra finally pipes up from the other side of the War table, adjacent to all of us. "But if you attempt to use them against an ally, they will be taken and you will be jailed." She bares her teeth at him when he looks about to complain. "I still do not know what your part in the death of the Divine was. It could be you were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

She steps around the war table to crowd him against the wall, pushing his chest with her fingertip. "But you are still a suspect."

"Oh, and if you have a request…" I smile a little smugly when his eyes flick to me, wild and wide as they are. " _I_  am in charge of the mages in Haven."

The strangest thing happens then. His expression twists in something like anger or hate or some other fiery bit of ugly emotion and then…he throws his palm at me.

I slowly lift a brow at him. I felt a rush of air and a slight cramping sensation in my stomach- but I've had worse on my monthly cycle. "What exactly was that supposed to do?" And how did I feel it? I'm not a mage…

Am I?

He looks a little horrified  _now_. "You-"

Cassandra slams his head into the wall behind him, surprising me. "What did we  _just tell you_?"

Ah. He just tried to attack me with Templar powers- he thought I was a grand enchanter or something, I'll bet. HA!

Cassandra flips him around and secures his hands behind his back with her shackles. They're supposed to be anti-magic shackles, but I'm sure they work for this too.

"You can't treat me like this! My family-"

Leliana laughs sharply. "Your family have been corresponding with us. We informed them that your only use to us would be as a tool if you didn't behave. They are positively  _horrified_  that you did not in fact volunteer to help with the first rift to begin with!"

She and I both laugh at that, and I wave jauntily as Cassandra pulls him away from the wall and ushers him out of the war room.

Leliana turns to me then, and we hear him cursing and shouting the whole way to the cells. She smiles pretty and dangerous. "That was fun."

"So much fun." I agree, smiling. "You'll make sure nobody puts a finger on him, though- yeah?" I ask with a perked brow. "He dies from internal injuries or something and we're screwed." Plus, you know. It kinda violates common decency to beat up on a guy just cause he's an asshole.

She lifts her chin and her eyes sparkle at me. "My Scouts know what to watch for, I assure you."

"That's great." I grin. "Now. You were gonna lend me a few of those Scouts?"

"As long as you promise not to lose them." She teases.

"Ah, I'll keep an eye on them." I roll my eyes. "God knows they need someone to do that or they'd all go traipsing off into the wilderness and get eaten by bears."

Leliana chuckles and the cold mask slowly returns to her face as she speaks. "If you will excuse me, Josephine and I still have yet to figure out that…idea you had. It should prove quite fruitful if we can make it work."

"I guarantee you, it will." I nod and watch her go with steady eyes.

Then I turn my gaze to the map on the table, and sigh. ' _I'm going to have to wrap them all around my fingers to keep them safe from each other and anyone else who might fuck with them. This is going to be_ _ **exhausting**_.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait guys. So much going on in so many different stories and real life too...


End file.
